All I Want for Christmas (5 page)

“I missed something? Spill
it this minute,” demanded Gaylynn.

“Not me. Nedra’s keeping
secrets. I had to find out on the street that she’s dating Judge
Jacobs’ son.” Maida wore a satisfied smile, even though Nedra
scowled at her.

“I went to school with Trey
Jacobs at St. Gerard High and Southern University. Handsome as a
movie star, but he’s got a rep, girl. Be careful.” Imani gave a
grunt.

“I’ve only had two dates
with Carlos, not
Trey
. I’ll tell my own business, thank you very much, Maida
Grant,” Nedra clipped.

“Let’s get to the important
news. So, Judge Jacobs has
another
single son?” Maida grinned and inched her chair
closer to Nedra. “I can see double dating in our future, my dear
and loving friend.”

“Didn’t you hear me say
that Trey Jacobs has a rep? He’s a baby daddy for one thing. Keisha
Fontenot has a little boy for him. Her daddy is that lawyer who’s
always on television. Mr. and Mrs. Fontenot bought a huge, historic
home in the Garden District. They were even on HGTV.” Imani rattled
off the facts as though she had a complete dossier on the Fontenot
family.

“Trust Imani to know the
details,” Gaylynn wisecracked and helped herself to a
meatball.

“Dang, people. I’ve only
known the man since Thanksgiving. I’m not up on his family history.
I don’t even know if we’ll do more than have a few more dates and
go our separate ways.”

“Nedra is right. We’re all
on the Twelve-Step program, not to jump into bed and start browsing
bridal magazines within the first seven days of meeting a man.”
Maida wore a sage expression of support. “Take it slow. We need to
have our own lives. We shouldn’t need men, but find men who
need
us
.”

“
Hear, hear,” said Nedra,
raising her glass. The other three women followed suit and they
shared a toast.

“Fine, so by Thursday
afternoon we’ll firm up our plans for the play, Saturday. I’ll get
the tickets,” Gaylynn said.

“I’ll ask my neighbor to
babysit when I get home. The kids love Mrs. Morrison and she enjoys
having them over,” Maida said.

“Errol probably knows his schedule. I’ll ask
him when he comes over tonight and text you,” Imani replied.

“Umm, I can’t. Carlos
invited me to that jazz performance at the Shaw Center for the
Arts, Saturday night.” Nedra concentrated on loading appetizers
onto her saucer.

“She met him last Thursday,
had two dates, and has a third already set. Right, keep on taking
it slow!” said Imani, cocking an eyebrow at the other two
women.

“Dates, not
sleepovers
,” Nedra
replied.

“It sounds like he really
wants to be with you. I say go for it,” said Maida, winking at
her.

“Yeah, he’s the one making
future plans. That’s a good sign. I’m happy for you,” Imani
added.

The women switched to the
other hot topic for downtown workers
–
city politics. Imani plunged into
sharing inside gossip. As she and Gaylynn swapped stories, Maida
leaned close to Nedra. “If things work out for you and Carlos, help
me bump into his fine brother. Remember your girl,” she added in an
undertone.

Nedra laughed out loud. “You’re too
much.”

****

On Wednesday morning,
conference room 603 in the downtown municipal building filled up
fast. Nedra gazed around at the volunteers, eager to get started on
the Holiday Hospitality Christmas Dinner. People were arriving
through the doors at either end of the room.

Constable Davidson was
enjoying the social mixing before everyone got down to the planning
details, but most of the work had already been done, long before
the Thanksgiving dinner. All that remained was to firm up the
important items. Each committee chair would report on the sponsors,
the volunteers lined up for the day of the dinner, and any donated
bulk food items for the menu.

Nedra happily sat back and
waited for her counterpart for the Christmas event to get his ducks
in a row. Rod expected all of the arrangements to be nailed down,
so George Eastman, the operations coordinator, checked to make sure
his sub-committee leaders had no problems to report. Rod had a
good-natured face in public, as did most politicians, but he
cracked his whip behind the scenes. With an eye on running for the
legislature in another year, he wanted a list of good deeds to use
during his campaign.

“I’m so glad to see you,
guys,” Rod called out as two men entered the conference room. He
shook their hands and beamed.

“You think he’s had enough
time to feel out possible campaign donors?” George whispered over
Nedra’s shoulder. The tall redhead had been a basketball standout
at LSU in the nineties.

She turned to him. “Trust
me; he’s already sealed some deals on that score. He’ll be shaking
hands for another hour if you let him. Just get everyone’s
attention and start.”

“My plan, exactly. I don’t
want to be here until Christmas Eve,” George joked. He strode over
to the podium and announced that the meeting was about to
start.

Nedra took a seat in a
chair along the wall. She liked being an observer after her long
stint as the Thanksgiving dinner operations coordinator. In true
Southern style, George allowed people to gather a cup of coffee,
donut or fruit, which were set out. Five minutes later, nearly
everyone was seated around a long table in the center of the
room.

Nedra took out her tablet
and stylus to take notes. As George went over the general details,
she scribbled down a few key words. More people came into the
meeting, but Nedra checked her e-mails and didn’t glance up. A
handout containing the minutes of the previous meeting was passed
around and she took one.

“Hello, pretty
lady.”

Nedra’s head snapped
around. Carlos was sitting in the once-empty chair to her left. He
wore a teasing smile at her shocked reaction. She managed to
recover from the thrill of hearing that mellow baritone
voice.
It wouldn’t do to salivate over the
man in front of the whole world.

“Well, hello,” she
whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I signed on for the
Christmas dinner. Seeing the smiles and happiness, and being part
of making it happen feels good.” Carlos leaned closer. “My buddies
will be wondering about my macho image in a minute.”

“Real men like to serve others,” Nedra
quipped and grinned back at him.

“Good you think that way.
I’m going to learn how to serve you, too.” Carlos winked and sat
back as George started to speak again.

Nedra used the sheet of
paper containing the minutes to fan her face. Carlos’ sensual
implication hit her body like a flamethrower and she was feeling
the fire. Though she tried to focus on the drone of George’s voice,
her imagination fought back. Images flashed through her mind of
Carlos lying naked on Egyptian cotton sheets, waiting for her with
a platter of chocolate-covered strawberries. The mention of her
name punched through her wonderful visualization.

“What do you think, Nedra?”
George asked.

She blinked rapidly, as
though trying to remember who he was and why he was there. Heads
turned to gaze at her. Nedra smiled and nodded. “Sure
thing.”

“Which one?” George asked
with a laugh.

“
Sorry, uh, I was making
notes. Repeat that for me again.” Nedra blushed at being caught
daydreaming.

She spotted Dwayne,
standing next to the mayor, wearing a less-than-friendly smirk at
her expense. He looked across the room and gave a slight nod in
that direction. Nedra followed his gaze to find Judge Yvonne
Jacobs, stone-faced and dressed in her black robe, studying her
intently. Nedra cursed herself for not paying attention to who had
entered the room.

“He asked if the carts
worked or if we should we serve buffet style,” Carlos
whispered.

“Oh, right. Thanks,” she
replied, giving him a grateful smile. To George, she said,
“Definitely use the carts again. In fact, I’ll make a call and see
if we can get at least a few with two levels.”

“Yeah, with our crowds,
buffet style wouldn’t work as well. Plus we’d need separate space
so the crowd wouldn’t spill into the dining area,” Alice Faye
chimed in.

“The volunteers really
enjoy the interaction of going from one table to the next. Plus
doing it that way gives us a true family-style dining experience,”
Nedra added, getting her wind back.

“Good points, Nedra,” said
Rod, beaming at her. “At this late date we can’t switch the
location for extra space.”

George nodded and smiled at
Nedra. “You’re on target per usual, ladies. Nedra, I’ll put you
down for looking to upgrade the carts. Thanks.”

“No problem,” she replied,
adding the reminder to her tablet. She didn’t look at the judge
again for the rest of the meeting.

Thirty minutes later,
George wrapped up the briefing and once again people took the
chance to network. Judge Jacobs spoke to the Mayor, and Dwayne
hovered nearby, nodding as if he was a key part of their
discussion. Yet he took time to dart glances at Nedra and
Carlos.

Carlos stepped in front of
her, cutting off the view of Dwayne, and said, “So, you’ll get to
meet my mother.”

“Hmm, well, she looks busy
and I’m sure she has to get back to court,” Nedra replied, her
words tumbling out as she inched towards the nearby
door.

“The judge’s bite isn’t
fatal. I should know, since I had to live with it for nineteen
years.” Carlos chuckled.

“I’ve got to make some calls anyway. See you
Saturday.”

As two people opened the
door, Nedra gave Carlos what she hoped was a warm smile and zipped
past them to safety. Or so she thought. His long-legged stride
helped him to catch up with her in the hallway.

“Nedra, hold on a minute,”
Carlos said, placing a guiding hand under her elbow. Nedra stopped
walking. “She’s really not that bad, despite what you may have
heard.”

“No, no, I don’t listen to
gossip. I mean, it’s just...” Nedra struggled for a way to not
insult his mother accidently. “You know, still on the clock and
lots of stuff to do.”

“Tell the truth,” Carlos said, one eyebrow
cocked.

“Don’t you think it’s a
little fast for a ‘meet the mother’ kind of thing?” Nedra replied.
“We’re in the early stages of... well, we really don’t know what,
do we?”

“True, but since we’re all
here and the situation happened naturally, we might as well get it
over with. I already mentioned you last week and…”

“What?” Nedra yelped and
then caught herself when a few heads turned. “Sorry, I’m just
surprised my name came up so soon.”

Carlos laughed out loud.
“The expression on your face is priceless. Okay, okay, don’t shoot
me. We can put off the meet and greet indefinitely.
Better?”

“Lord, yes. I mean, uh...”
Nedra cast around for a way to dress up her reaction.

“No problem,” Carlos
replied, and laughed harder as he hooked an arm around her, as if
he needed to support himself.

“Did I look that horrified?
Please don’t think I’m insulting your mother,” Nedra whispered,
glancing around. Then she faced him and nudged his side. “Now stop
that. People are staring.”

“Okay, okay. No one is
paying attention. In fact, the hallway has cleared.” Carlos gazed
into her eyes and then at her mouth. “Saturday seems a long way
off, you know?”

Nedra breathed in the scent
of him; a spicy whiff with a hint of sandalwood. She swallowed hard
and nodded, unable to do more. He brushed a finger along her right
cheek and she shivered.

“Carlos, I didn’t realize you were going to
volunteer again. Holiday Hospitality events must really appeal to
you.”

They both turned to find
Judge Jacobs standing a few feet away. Her black coffee-colored
eyes shifted from her son to Nedra, and then to his arm around her.
Yvonne’s smile looked chilly enough to have icicles hanging from
her mouth.

Carlos gave his mother a
relaxed grin, lowered his arm from Nedra’s shoulder and grabbed her
hand. “Good morning, mother. You’re right. I did have a great time
on Thanksgiving Day. This is Nedra…”

“…
Wallace,” Judge Jacobs
finished for him. “Nice to meet you. You’re Rod’s executive
assistant.” She stuck out her hand and gave Nedra a firm
handshake.

“Nice to meet you as well,
Judge Jacobs,” Nedra replied. She stared directly back at the
woman, who seemed intent on making her shiver. Instead, Nedra only
became annoyed with her ‘tiger mother’ act.
This man is thirty-five years old, for goodness
sake.

“I’m surprised to see you
at the meeting. I didn’t know you were involved with the dinners or
worked with Constable Davidson,” Carlos said casually.

Nedra thought he seemed
unaware or unaffected by his mother’s intimidating aura.

Judge Jacobs’ expression
tightened, though she managed to maintain her frozen smile. “No,
I’ve never had the pleasure of working with Rod on anything. The
mayor and I wanted to stop in, and show our support to such a
worthwhile community event.”